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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Getting started with a prosthetic

The leg process has begun! We went to Shriners today and the prosthetist deemed Steven ready to get a leg made. Even though his foot can't be stretched all the way straight yet, we decided that it would be best for his therapy if he could start bearing weight, having something touching his foot to help with the sensitivity and also start learning to walk. This is just a temporary prosthetic, so in the next few months, they will figure out the alignment and slowly change the prosthetic into a final product.

So here are a few pictures about the process so far:

First he put a sock on, and then ran a tube down the outside of the sock. The tube helped him to cut the cast off after he wrapped it.

He wrapped the foot with casting material and then while it was still wet, he stretched Steven's leg as much as possible.

As soon as the cast set up a little, he cut it off. The next step is to use this mold to create the plastic part that his foot will rest in.

He took a measurement of Steven's other foot in order to make the foot of the prosthetic leg.

I really liked Scott, the prosthetist assigned to Steven. He seems very experienced with rotationplasty and with prosthetics in general. He is a cancer survivor himself and is an amputee. In the lobby, I met a little eight-year-old girl that had a rotationplasty when she was three because she had a limb deficiency. She was really cute.

I will have to post more later about Shriners, but it is really a neat place. I am feeling good about our decision to get Steven's leg made there.

I was going to comment on that silent grimace of pain too - must be heartbreaking to deal with that every time you stretch the foot. I hope the prosthetic process will be good motivation to keep up with the yuck that is PT. Praying for you always.